SCOTTISH WARRIORS 2012: HELP FOR HEROES AND A YEAR IN REVIEW
So what an eventful year that was then. But before I run through the highs and lows of 2012, let’s start with the single biggest, most important part: Help for Heroes.
When Willie came to the team with the idea of doing a charity game back in 2011, we thought he was either mad, or genius – maybe both. His grand vision was to bring the community together to play a little ‘ball and raise a little money for charity, specifically Help for Heroes. Myself and Stella worked on the game plan, Willie chatted up BZ and everyone else blagged their way around every company involved with paintball in the UK. By The end of 2011, we had the basics in place to have a nice little game going at Battlezone Yarm, and a forecast of maybe £2000 to charity.
December 2011 saw our teaser go out on the paintball forums with our official launch at the start of February. Then everything went a bit……. mental. Donations came pouring in from all across the community of UK paintball players, breaking £1000 in the JustGiving account in a mere 5 days. This was before ticket sales, before auctions, raffles or anything else. We were astounded and somewhat taken aback to say the least. We made a decision to optimistically raise the bar and go for a £3000 total, maybe £4000.
On the build up to the game, we had companies from all across the UK and even Europe, donate prizes for auctions and raffles. Eveything from flipflops to a signed Nexus jersey, from hoppers to markers and game tickets and paint for the German big game at Mahlwinkle. Individuals were exceedingly generous too, with personal monetary donations flying in, kit being offered and, lest we forget, Cheryl’s cakes!
The game itself in May proved to be a great experience and I can’t remember a game where I’ve seen everyone smiling all day. From my perspective, the players were all top quality, getting stuck into some old skool action combined with mine and Stella’s slightly twisted game plan. I don’t think I’ve spent a day feeling quite so stressed though, and I know the rest of the team were anxious for things to go well.
Off the field, the team and accompanying help, did their utmost to shake down everyone for every penny they had on them! And seeing the total, it makes it all worth while.
At the end of the day, we calculated our initial final total, drawing up a presentation cheque to Help for Heroes for an amazing £10,000. But it didn’t end there…. Other funds kept coming, merchandise sales were added, other auctions finished, and some peoples personal fundraising efforts (Mario and his amazing headshave! Warriors getting tattoo'd!) were still to be finalised. At last we can say, it’s done, and we have the final total…..
Today, the Scottish Warriors are pleased to announce the final donation to Help for Heroes is:
£12,088.15
JustGiving take their handling fee from this, meaning the amount that will go to Help for Heroes is £11,618.65.
Willie would like to thank everyone for everything.
“My heartfelt thanks go out to all the guys who made this happen. It’s truly one of the most important things I’ve done with my life”, he said. “It truly is a show of strength in the paintball community that so much money can be raised in a little over 3 months”
We’d like to thank the following people and companies, in no particular order.
Shoreline and Tim Barnett, Plasmalights, Storm IT, Nexus, BZ, Dye, Eclipse, Anji Panji's Tattoos, Tippmann, Rebellion, SPS and Andy Newberry, TGTS Customs, Fat Bobs and Andy Sables, Maxs, Vanguard, Hammerhead, Just Paintball, Demon Paintball, LIPS paintball, Paintball Scene, P8ntballer, UKScenario, Niall Carroll, Kirsty Ellis, Cheryl Pattison, Paul and Thomas Banks.
If we've missed anyone, we apologise profusely…
The rest of the year proved eventful for the team, travelling to a variety of games across the country and at all sorts of venues – everything from woodlands, to MoD training bases, to disused underground military complexes and covering a range of scenarios that pushed the players and the new Tippmann Crossovers to the limit. We rocked out with Mr Paintball, Greg “Red” Hastings, and showed him how to play our way.
Next year sees a few changes for the team. Firstly, Tony has stepped down as captain of the team – although we won’t let him escape, much as he tries. Tony and fellow team mate Guy are bringing the UK the next big thing in combat sports with the IRTactical brand and a centre opening soon in Glasgow. This is going to tie their hands for a while, but hopefully we’ll drag them onto a paintball field soon. Veteran Warrior Willie will take over the majority of the off-field organisation, while our electric gerbil Tommy will be unleashed to drive us forward on-field.
Next, we have our 10th Anniversary to celebrate in 2013. Part of this will see us return to our home-away-from-home, the amazing site at Mahlwinkle in Germany. We are playing the May event there and anyone that wants to join us is more than welcome. We are busy sorting flights, accommodation and German transport, so get hold of us to tag along or if you need any help organising your own trip.
Finally, we have a new Warrior.
Craig “Gassy” Pattison joins the ranks of the Scottish Warriors, bringing over 14 years of paintball experience with him. Having played all forms of our beautiful game, Gassy has returned to the scenario side of balling. Despite his claims to be the better looking Yorkshireman on the team, and an alleged Scottish ancestry, we felt he was the kind of player that could give what the team needs both on and off the field.
“I am truly humbled and honoured to join such an illustrious company as the Scottish Warriors” said Gassy. “The team plays the game the right way on and off the field and being part of the team is the proudest moment of my time in paintball.”
Our exact attendance plan for 2013 is still to be confirmed, but you can be sure we will be doing the games we consider the best – whether it’s best value, best play, best atmosphere or just something completely different. So here’s to everyone’s 2013 – make sure you get plenty of time on the field and that every shot counts.
Fraser "Rider" Hepburn, Scottish Warriors.
